McCreary's Reputation Rose from Little Recognition

The Tennessee Titans' second-round pick went to Auburn as an unheralded high school recruit with no legitimate NFL aspirations.

NASHVILLE – Roger McCreary did not travel a long and winding road to the NFL

It was a straight line. Straight up, that is.

When he went to Auburn in 2018, McCreary barely cracked the top 1,000 players in the 247Sports national composite high school recruit rankings. He was 989 overall and 87th among cornerbacks even though he was a first-team All-State player and two-way performer at Williamson High School in Mobile, Ala.

Friday, the Tennessee Titans made him the 35th overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft and the fifth cornerback off the board. Three more went after him in the second round.

“It was kind of hard for me a little bit because coming out of high school I was a three-star [prospect], and so not a lot of people had a lot of trust in me,” McCreary said. “So, I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder going into the next level, into college. I did not imagine this would happen.

“… My senior season [at Auburn], I had a great season, and the confidence just went high and now that I know I’m going to the next level, my confidence is going to be great and I feel like I’m going to do good going to the next level.”

In four years of college football, McCreary went from a little-used player as a true freshman to a reserve defensive back as a sophomore and a starter as a junior. Finally, he cemented his place among the top prospects in this year’s draft class with an SEC-best 14 passes defensed as a senior. Along the way he also added 11 pounds to his 5-foot-11 frame, which brought him to the NFL at 190 pounds.

Joining the Ranks

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His selection made this the third straight year that the Titans have taken at least one cornerback within the first three rounds of the draft.

In 2021, they took Caleb Farley in the first round (22nd overall) and Elijah Molden in the third. In 2020, the Titans grabbed Kristian Fulton in the second round. Farley was a three-star prospect who ranked among the top 500 nationally. Molden was a four-star recruit out of high school who was among the top 200 overall and Fulton was a five-star, the No. 1 recruit in Louisiana, third among all cornerbacks and 22nd overall in the national rankings.

Also consider the other members of this year’s Titans draft class, such as it is through the first three rounds. Third-round pick Nicholas Petit-Frere was the No. 1 tackle prospect in the country and a top 10 overall recruit in 2018. First-round choice Treylon Burks, a wide receiver, was the No. 1 prospect out of Arkansas in 2019 and just outside the top 100 overall.

Now, McCreary is in the same league – literally – and on the same team with all of them and others of similar pedigree.

“I went on a visit to Nashville, and I just loved everything about the Titans, just the coaches and everything,” McCreary said. “They talked about the system, and I really feel like I will fit in. And that's why I was hoping that when it came that I would be one of the choices they would call. I’m just happy they chose me.”

Playing Against the Best

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Playing in the SEC gave McCreary a chance to match up with high-profile NFL prospects almost weekly and to prove his worth as an NFL prospect.

His first career interception, for example, came against LSU on a pass thrown by Joe Burrow, the first overall pick in 2020, to Ja’Marr Chase, the fifth overall selection in 2021. Those two, once again teammates in the NFL, helped lead the Cincinnati Bengals to last season’s Super Bowl.

Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel said one of the most compelling parts of the evaluation process was McCreary’s performance last season against Alabama, a team that already has had two wide receivers selected in this year’s draft. He finished that game with seven tackles and four passes defensed.

“The SEC, I feel like that is the best conference underneath the NFL,” McCreary said. “They prepare you for the next level. You are just going against these great receivers from week in, to week out.

“That’s why I felt like I was one of the best corners in the draft because I played against the best from Henry Ruggs to Ja'Marr Chase and Davonte Smith and to Treylon Burks. That’s a lot of guys. I feel like having that under my belt and playing in the SEC, that’s why my confidence is so high going to the next level.”

A level that seemed out of reach not that long ago.